A former trainer at a Tampa, Florida gym has been arrested for child abuse. Fox 13 reports Michael Hernandez, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 350 pounds, made an 11-year-old boy continuously hold up a weighted bar. When the boy grew tired and lowered the bar, Hernandez began striking the child. "He allegedly utilized a PVC pipe to beat the child across his back and lower legs to the point the child suffered from severe bruising,” said Larry McKinnon with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.The incident allegedly took place after business hours when the former trainer should not have been on the premises. He has been fired.While corporal punishment is legal in Florida, deputies say this incident took things too far.“I couldn't imagine what his thought process was to think this was tough love, but it’s not. It’s a form of abuse,” McKinnon said.The victim was known to Hernandez, but their exact relationship is not clear. Hernandez was released from jail on a $2,000 bond.

TAMPA, Florida —

A former trainer at a Tampa, Florida gym has been arrested for child abuse.

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Fox 13 reports Michael Hernandez, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 350 pounds, made an 11-year-old boy continuously hold up a weighted bar. When the boy grew tired and lowered the bar, Hernandez began striking the child.

"He allegedly utilized a PVC pipe to beat the child across his back and lower legs to the point the child suffered from severe bruising,” said Larry McKinnon with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident allegedly took place after business hours when the former trainer should not have been on the premises. He has been fired.

While corporal punishment is legal in Florida, deputies say this incident took things too far.

“I couldn't imagine what his thought process was to think this was tough love, but it’s not. It’s a form of abuse,” McKinnon said.

The victim was known to Hernandez, but their exact relationship is not clear.